Friday, February 08, 2008

Whipped Cream, Caramelized Bread

I'm in the mood for simple Estonian desserts lately. Take this one - you fry some grated sour rye bread in butter with sugar until crispy and caramelized, then fold into whipped cream and serve with jam. In the matter of minutes you've got an excellent quick pudding. And if grating bread seems like too much work, then you can just use ready-made rye bread crumbs available in the supermarket (that's what I do). The dessert is very similar to Shy Danish Country Girl pudding and not too dissimilar to the Scottish Cranachan pudding, but still distinctive enough to deserve a separate post.

Grate the bread and fry on the pan with butter and sugar until caramelised (do not burn!). Season with cinnamon and put aside to cool completely.Whisk the cream with 2 Tbsp of sugar until soft peaks form. Fold in the cooled crispy rye bread mixture.Spoon into dessert glasses and top with some nice jam. It's best to use some jam with some sharpness - be it apple and flowering quince jam (on the photo) or apple and lingonberry jam or such like.

Eat at once to enjoy the caramelized gritty breadcrumbs or wait until later for the breadcrumbs to soften again.

I also think it is quiet original and I am sure that it tastes great! I like the fact that it can be served in many different ways, just like ice cream, just more caloric...mmmhhh...this, I must confess, never deters me!Would you continue blogging regularly now that you have the URL "ee" in Estonian? I certainly hope so! As I have realized lately you are in the blogroll of very important culinary sites! Best.

That does look wonderful, Pille - it reminds me of brown bread ice cream, which I tried once in Ireland. Too bad I can't buy rye bread pre-crumbed here, though I really shouldn't complain since the Polish explosion in Edinburgh has meant that good rye bread can be found nearly everywhere these days!

I'm going for the gritty breadcrumbs Pille :). Just perfect for me!There is a dessert recipe from my home region that uses a combination of gritty breadcrumbs, sugar and creme fraiche...but there is also some dough involved.

Just did it and ate it and it´s amazing how the bread and the whipped cream just go together. I also used just a bit ice cream to make it colder as i could not wait for the bread crumbs to chill completely and freshly crushed cranberries (jõhvika toormoos noh :) Deeelicious!

Sure I will Pille. I don't have the right to keep anything delicious from the world :). I will post about it on my blog, and email you the link as soon as publish it, ok?And welcome back from your skiing getaway!